Advancements in fabrication methods have yielded many automated machining processes that reduce the time and manpower required while increasing production rate. Many of theses automated machining processes, for example, milling and boring, typically require that the work piece being machined be precisely located whereby the automated, typically, computer programmed, machine tool yields the desired piece part having the desired features and dimensions. In order to provide the desired precise location of work pieces for access by the tool, for example, in the “machining cell” or “machining center,” work pieces are often mounted in a fixture or tooling. The fixture or tooling holding the part, for example, by means of set screws or similar retaining hardware, can then be mounted in the machine tool and the machining practiced with reference to the datum provided by the tooling.
Often, the cost of tooling for mounting the work piece to the machine tool can be a significant part of the cost of the machining operation. For example, in some machining processes, each work piece must be mounted in its own set of tooling prior to machining whereby numerous tools or sets of tools must be provided for a run of a specific work piece.
One typical machining process that may require multiple tools or sets of tools to machine multiple work pieces, typically, one at a time, is the Electrical Discharge Machining process (that is, the “EDM process”). As described, for example, in one on-line encyclopedia, the EDM process is                . . . a nontraditional method of removing material by a series of rapidly recurring electric arcing discharges between an electrode (the cutting tool) and the work piece, in the presence of an energetic electric field. The EDM cutting tool is guided along the desired path very close to the work but it does not touch the piece. Consecutive sparks produce a series of micro-craters on the work piece and remove material along the cutting path by melting and vaporization. The particles are washed away by the continuously flushing dielectric fluid.[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrical_discharge_machining]        
In order to precisely locate the work piece relative to the EDM tool, that is, typically a wire electrode, the work piece that is to be EDM machined is typically mounted in a fixture or tool that is then mounted in the EDM tank containing the dielectric fluid, typically water or kerosene. That is, when multiple work pieces are to be EDM machined, multiple tools or sets of tools must be provided to mount the individual work pieces before mounting the tooling and work piece into the EDM machine. Though this disadvantage characterizes certain EDM machining processes, for example, wire-type EDM processes, other machining processes that require tooling are also hampered by this requirement.
Aspects of the present invention overcome the above disadvantages of conventional traditional and nontraditional machining processes. As will be discussed below, aspects of the present invention obviate the need for supplying and handling multiple tools or tool sets when preparing work pieces for machining, for example, EDM machining. This and other advantages of aspects of the invention will become apparent upon review of the aspects and details of the aspects discussed below.